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MOSCOW, Idaho – Isaiah Saunders ran for 142 yards and three scores and Matt Linehan added a pair of touchdowns through the air Saturday to help Idaho to a 38-31 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at the Kibbie Dome.

Saunders opened the scoring with a six-yard run in the first quarter, then reached the end zone twice after the Jaguars (5-6, 1-6 Sun Belt) had taken their only lead of the game in the second half as the Vandals improved to 7-4, 5-2 in the SBC.  He had a one-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes to go in the third quarter to put Idaho back in front 31-28, then crossed the goal line from seven yeards away to extend that advantage to 10 points with the Vandals' last score of the contest.

Maasseiah Francis paced the Jags with career highs of seven receptions for 146 yards — the most by a member of the program this fall — and two touchdowns, both in the first half, but it was not enough to help USA avoid its fourth straight loss on the road.

"Obviously, I thought our kids played hard; they came back and made a real good game of it," said South head coach Joey Jones.  "Idaho is a good football team and Matt Linehan is one of the best quarterbacks I've seen in this league in a while.  He throws the ball really well and made a lot of completions.  We had a hard time containing him today.  We knew they were going to be good offensively.

"I thought we would also have a chance to score some points, and we had a chance to add some more with the late punt return for a touchdown that was called back.  We just came up a little short tonight."

Trailing 24-21 at the break after Dallas Davis and James Bynes connected on a one-yard pass with 12 seconds remaining in the second quarter — the last of four touchdowns by the two teams in the final six minutes and 40 seconds before the break — the sophomore quarterback capped South's opening possession of the third period with a one-yard scoring run.  Davis converted the Jags' first third down of the second half with a 13-yard run around left end, and on the next snap he scrambled for 23 more to move the ball to the Vandal 32-yard line.  Facing fourth-and-eight he was able to find Sa'Mory Collier for 22 yards, before scoring two plays later.

The Vandals went back ahead by a three-point margin a minute-and-a-half later, using a 38-yard pass from Linehan to Callen Hightower and a 19-yard Saunders run to set up the latter's one-yard touchdown run with more than nine minutes remaining in the period.  When Saunders scored on the third play of the final quarter, this time on a seven-yard run, it concluded a possession that saw the Vandals move 80 yards in 15 plays and five minutes, 44 seconds to extend to a 38-28 edge.

Linehan was 17-of-34 passing for 231 yards, with Hightower catching five balls for 111 yards to pace Idaho's receiving corps.

Gavin Patterson converted a 36-yard field goal with just under 10 minutes to go in regulation, five plays after Jalen Thompson's second interception of the contest gave South the ball at the Idaho-37, but those would be the final points of the day.

Davis finished with a career-best 374 yards of total offense, completing 24-of-45 attempts for 320 yards and a pair of scores while running for 54 yards on 13 carries.  Xavier Johnson rushed 14 times for 83 yards as well as USA outgained the Vandals by a 483-407 margin.

Thompson also ended the Vandals opening possession when he intercepted a pass at the USA-26, but following a three-and-out Tony Lashley blocked USA's punt allowing Idaho to take over at the 18-yard line.  Neiko Robinson stopped Saunders for a loss of one yard on the first play of the ensuing series, but Saunders gained six yards before scoring on third down from 14 yards out as the Vandals took a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into play.

Kaden Elliss intercepted a pass and returned it 12 yards to set up Idaho at the the USA-47 to end the Jaguars' next possession, and after a pass interference call Linehan found Buck Cowan for a 32-yard scoring pass to double the Vandal advantage midway through the opening quarter.

The Jags responded with an eight-play, 75-yard march, cutting their deficit in half on a six-yard touchdown pass from Cole Garvin to Francis on the quarterback's first snap after Davis was injured on a three-yard run. Johnson had runs for 12 and eight yards around a 12-yard completion to Josh Magee.  South moved into the red zone when, after Johnson's second carry, Davis hit Kevin Kutchera for a 32-yard gain.

Austin Rehkow extended the Vandal lead to 17-7 with a 24-yard field goal with six minutes and fourty seconds left in the first half, capping a 14-play, 60-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock, but the Jaguars needed only 11 seconds to issue a response, as Davis and Francis connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass on their first play, to make the score 17-14.

Linehan threw his second touchdown of the day with just over two minutes to go before the break — hitting Hightower, who was able to get one foot inbounds for a 41-yard score and a 24-14 lead — as Idaho marched 80 yards in seven plays and just over four minutes, but once again South was able to counter with a score if its own.  Davis found Francis for a 21-yard pickup on third-and-five from the USA-37 to move across midfield.  After a 14-yard pass to Johnson the Vandals were called for a late hit to put the ball on the Idaho-14, and after the two teams traded penalties Davis hit Jordan McCray for 12 yards to set up first-and-goal.  After a pair of runs were stopped shorrt of the goal line, Davis rolled out and was able to connect with Bynes on third down with 12 seconds left in the period as the Jags trailed 24-21 at the half.

Lashley recorded a game-high 14 total tackles and Jayshawn Jordan was credited with 11 for the Vandals, with Ed Hall and Tueni Lupeamanu contributing nine stops each; that included Hall recording three tackles behind the line of scrimmage with a sack.  Thompson had a career-best 10 stops for the Jag defense, becoming the first member of the program's defense to intercept two passes in a game since Kalen Jackson did so against Troy in October last season as well as the first to pick off a pass in back-to-back games since the 2010 finale and '11 season opener.  Jeremy Reaves posted nine stops and Darrell Songy had eight including one for loss, Neiko Robinson recorded seven tackles with two behind the line and Zach Befort finished with five stops — with one of those behind the line of scrimmage as well.

The Jags will close the regular season with a noon (CST) match-up Saturday against New Mexico State at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

"It's one more shot for us to become bowl eligible and that's all we can ask; there are a lot of people right now that don't have that shot with seven losses," said Jones.  "The way it looks right now is that if we win we will get in, and that's a shot of confidence for us right there.  We knew tonight's game here would be tough.  Idaho is a very good football team, I think they are one of the most improved team in this league and my hat's off to them."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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